Utah Supreme Court Allows Citizens to Vote on New Coal Plant
The creativity of those opposed to new coal plants seems to have no bounds. The most recent effort is to place a referendum on the ballot to allow citizens to vote whether a permit should be issued for a new coal plant in Utah. The referendum would amend the county's conditional-use permit ordinance to require voter approval prior to issuing permits for coal-fired power plants.
In a effort to block this type of referendum effort, the Utah Legislature passed H.B. 53 which says that the voters of any county, city or town may not initiate a land use ordinance or a change in a land use ordinance. The Legislature also said that the people may not require a land use ordinance passed by the local legislative body (city council or county commission) to be submitted to the voters for approval before it can take effect (i.e. a referendum).
A lower court blocked the referendum, but the Supreme Court of Utah said it should be placed on the ballot. Here is my favorite observation... a company representative said that getting a permit for a coal-fired power plant these days "is not for the faint of heart."
As I have commented in prior posts, a top priority of those concerned with climate change is to stop construction of new coal fired power plants, almost through any means necessary. We have seen a call for citizen protests, various lawsuits filed, appeals of permits, legislation and now a proposal to let citizens vote on whether a permit should be issued.
(Photo: Flickr Jeffreyd00)
